


love trial.

by ansutazu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, my mood is keito in the beginning of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 17:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12612148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ansutazu/pseuds/ansutazu
Summary: here at my love trial, can you please just tell me? how long’s the list of charges going to be? // keichi one-shot.





	love trial.

**Author's Note:**

> i listened to love trial and i (yotes)
> 
> see i can write fluff too sort of i guess,, there was. no editing done to this but i will. eventually rip

It is never a good sign to see Eichi hovering over his desk, obscuring the words on various amounts of paper with his pesky looming shadow — nor is it ever good to see the blonde smiling so _enthusiastically_ , because Keito knows that this is the smile he uses when he wants something from someone, and as that ‘someone’ who’s seen this smile particularly often, he felt himself twitch a little in preparation for whatever comes out of Eichi’s mouth, the blonde leaning closer as if to assert him into agreeing without posing the declaration first.

“Fufu, Keito…”

“What is it, Eichi?” He looks back down at his paperwork to appear unfazed, though his head continues to dip down as he does so, the words on the page blending together as his vision blurs.

Ah, so the energy drinks he downed earlier were starting to fail him; he hadn’t slept much due to student council work (not that he slept much either before that, keeping up with funerals, schoolwork, and the like — but he digresses), turning to the solace of red bull and faith in hopes that it’ll keep him awake. And it does do its duty…to a certain point, that is, and it seems as if he was hitting his limit right at this second, ready to just pass out from the overwhelming exhaustion that was now flooding in.

Eichi’s voice cuts through the muddiness of his head, though not much; it sounds slightly muffled, though he tries his best to listen, lest he answer incorrectly, or he doesn’t answer at all. Knowing Eichi, doing so would mean he has something told hold against him. He doesn’t want to start rambling either; rattling on about this or that while half-asleep had proved to be futile for Keito in numerous ways, and he’d like to avoid that this time around.

“Even though it’s just the two of us in the student council offices at this hour, you’re still doing work?” Eichi feigns pushing up imaginary glasses, his smile turning into a fake scowl to match Keito’s (who was, by the minute, falling asleep faster and faster, though he jerks slightly when he catches himself dozing, scolding himself for almost sleeping). “Hmph. You’re incorrigible.”

“Don’t mock me and get straight to the point.” He’s too tired to lecture, and his attempt to reprimand Eichi comes out sharply weak — that is, his tone was harsh, but quiet at the same time.

Eichi rattles on — but he can’t hear a thing now, stuck in a daze of fatigue.

Then it all goes to black, and he passes out.

* * *

“Did I…forget something?”

Keito turns to the rest of the student council, sans Eichi — it was just Mao and Yuzuru working today, Eichi having walked out the room once he entered, hitting Keito’s head lightly with a stack of books and saying, “You forgot something important, Keito — that’s why I’ll do my work somewhere else today. Figure it out, okay?”

“I’m not quite sure, either. He didn’t quite specify what he wanted.” Mao shrugs, passing some papers onto the vice president. “If you think about it, he’s pretty odd, isn’t he?”

“Don’t speak ill of Eichi like that.” Keito pauses, trying once again to jog any sort of memory — to no avail, it seems. “No, never mind — I think I can agree with you there. He didn’t bring this up in the morning or during class…only now, so does it have anything to do with student council work? That guy is simply incorrigible.”

“If you don’t remember, then there’s no point in trying to do so,” Yuzuru chimes in from behind, handing yet another pile over. “Kaichou-sama has always been like this, hasn’t he? And you’ve known him for a while, too. I’m sure you know the best way to get the answer you want.”

“I suppose I have no choice but to resort to _that_ later on…but oi, you two, what’s with this load of paper you’ve just handed me?"

* * *

The two usually walk home together (per Eichi’s request), but their travels were a little _too_ quiet. There was no bickering, no monologuing, no usual banter — it was just silence, since Keito had not yet answered Eichi’s question. It bothered him so, for he could not remember _what_ could have possibly made Eichi this…this…

There was no name he could place on it. Maybe it was just plain ‘mad’.

But Eichi said he wasn’t mad. He just wanted Keito to remember, and as he found himself empty-handed, he couldn’t help but feel as if he had any right to be mad. It was frustrating, and after another day’s work at the student council, he just wasn’t having it anymore.

“Eichi…stop playing games. Just tell me what I forgot about.”

“Hmm…saying it easily is no fun, you know.”

“You’re being childish.”

“So it seems.” Eichi stops in his steps, the wind passing through the front gates of Yumenosaki picking up strands of his hair up for a short dance before they take a bow and return to the rest of his head; he turns around to face his childhood friend, the sun starting to dip down and paint the world with a sunset’s usual colors (and it was horribly cliche, Keito thinks, having watched a ton of anime for background references such as these). “However, please allow me to be a little more selfish, Keito — it’ll help atone for your sins.”

“That sounds horribly cryptic — are you planning to speak like that while we’re talking?” Though he says that, Keito sighs, drawing to a halt a few steps in front of Eichi. “Well, what is it?”

“Do you like me, Keito?”

The question takes the vice president by surprise — he blinks in confusion, in amazement, in _embarrassment_ , his face turning hot as red spreads across his cheeks, his heart charged up to some unmeasurable speed that could only be explained by the answer — ah, the feelings — he’d come to realize a long time ago.

He just didn’t think he’d have to own up to them so soon.

“Wh — you can’t just ask that so bluntly, Eichi. It’s impolite.” Keito’s scowl deepens, though it doesn’t hide the disarrayed look on his face, and Eichi laughs a little, eyes softening up as his childhood friend fumbles to answers.

“You won’t stop pestering me until I truly answer…so you better be listening closely, Eichi.”

“Believe me, this is one of the few times I’ll listen to you, attentively and honestly.”

“You’re…incorrigible, you know that?” He takes another step forward, and then another, getting all the more closer to Eichi with some sort of purpose in his step, some sort of resolution he’s come to. He reaches out, pinching Eichi’s cheek gently, smiling just a little but, albeit unconsciously (and catching a glimpse of it sends Eichi’s heart soaring).

“You never listen, you’re stubborn, you’re being incredibly extravagant with this whole affair when you don’t need to be — really, you’re such a hassle. But even so…there’s no one but me that can put up with that childish side of yours, it seems, and all the other sides of you that I find so interesting. You’re really something else, you know? It’s no surprise that I’m going to have to stick by your side for all this time to come. So to answer your question — so yeah, it looks like I love you.”

“I said ‘like’, not ‘love’.” When Eichi points out the change in wording, Keito’s face becomes an even deeper red. “But it makes me happy to hear it…because I feel the same way, you know. I don’t think there’s anyone else that I’d want by my side. You’ll _al-ways_ be my right hand man…of course, I’ll say it, too — I love you, Keito.”

“Ah…I’m glad.” Keito lets out a sigh of relief — _that_ was a confession he wasn’t thinking off scripting anytime soon, but to hear Eichi return his words of affection relieved him; it set him at ease, knowing that he felt that same way now. He lets go of Eichi’s cheek, a bit humiliated to have his fingers linger for a longer time that he had intended, and he clears his throat, trying to figure out what to do now, the confession aside. “Anyway…did I appease for my wrongdoing?”

“Hmm…since you were so cute when you were confessing, I guess I could say you’re no longer guilty.” Eichi’s smile stretches wider — ah, that was another thing he liked about him, the way his grin radiated alongside the setting sun.

(He figured he didn’t really express his feelings well enough — he babbled so much, and yet he struggles to fit such emotions into words? It was ironic, but surely, from now on, he has more chances to say these sort of feelings…given that it wasn’t as cheesy as that. Ah, he was dying internally.)

The hand that remains hovering next to Eichi’s face is grasped, and Eichi pulls Keito a little closer, their bodies mere centimeters apart.

“By the way…I’m guilty of something, too. I confessed to you yesterday in the student council room, you know.”

“Wait, you did?” Geez, it was one surprise after the other, but Keito’s gaze was locked into Eichi’s blue eyes, sparkling with playfulness that he can’t quite pull away from. “When did you — ah, I feel asleep…”

“That you did. I said something just as elegant as you did right now, but you missed it. I poured my heart and soul into it, but you dozed off.” Eichi laughs again, tightening his grip on Keito’s hand. “I’ll confess to my sins, too — about what you forgot, I was teasing you about it, you know? Fufu, you can’t exactly remember a confession if you slept through it.”

“So you — Eichi, was there any need to be this dramatic over it?”

“It was funny seeing those expressions on your face…you’re cute, Keito.”

“Seriously, I was worried that…in any case, it seems as if I missed something important from you. If we’re going to be serious about this, then I guess I should apologize.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve forgiven you for that — it’s no big deal, since we came to the same conclusion. I’m sorry, too, for worrying you that much.” Eichi pauses for a second before attacking — he plants a kiss on Keito’s forehead, one centimeter of height difference making it easier for him to do so. “Fufu, but what’s that about being ‘serious’?”

“Well…” Keito stops for a second, still in a daze from Eichi’s earlier action. This time he takes Eichi’s free hand as a response, putting it closer to his lips — an eye for an eye, as they say, and it seems as if even now they’ll keep to their childish ways. (He was allowed to do this, right? He wanted to see Eichi get flustered, and that he did, turning just as red as he after the gesture.) “If we have the same feelings, then doesn’t that mean we should date?”

“Are you asking me out, Keito?”

“More or less, yes. Anyway — that’s the answer I want to hear from you, too, Eichi.”

* * *

“…So you confessed to Fukukaichou, but he fell asleep? And you know about it?” Mao blinks, looking at the student council president with surprise, childhood friend to childhood friend.

“I wouldn’t be surprised — he’s been working hard these past few days.” Eichi laughs, though his smile is small and his eyes hint at something else, like mild disappointment. “But now he doesn’t know of the words I said, even though I put so much thought into it. Ah…it feels unbecoming for the student council president to mourn such a thing, but I’ve allowed myself to be swayed by this slight mishap. This feeling…I would call it ‘selfishness’.”

“Kaichou-sama just acts a little childish sometimes — it’s a habit rich folk have.” Yuzuru comments, looking up from the work Tori had asked him to do while he went off to practice at the tennis club. “But it’s understandable, I suppose, for you to feel that way, and the very fact that you feel it speaks volumes. Still, it’d be in your best interests if you remedy it right away — if you sit on that egg for too long, it’ll crack, and all that yolk will run through your fingers.”

“You’re using such weird metaphors, Yuzuru — have you been around ‘fine’ for too long?” The other second-year lets out a sigh, and Mao’s eyes dart back to Eichi once again. “He has a point, though. Childhood friends are quite often misinformed — I know that for sure, and it’s pretty frustrating since you’ve known each other for so long. But…you should probably straighten things out with Fukukaichou. If not, things’ll get pretty awkward in the student council, and that bond won’t be as strong anymore, you know?”

“Oh, don’t worry, you two — I’ll sort it out by the end of the day.” Eichi’s mouth twitches up to a more mischievous smile, one that strikes shivers down both of the second-years’ spines. “Fufu, but as a punishment for his crimes…I’m going to tease Keito _juuust_ a little.”


End file.
